The First Record "Daughters" Delves Into Sorrow and Style
In the track "Miss America", listeners are placed in a hotel room near JFK airfield, as Jennifer Walton receives a devastating news that her dad has cancer discovery. The Sunderland-born artist was touring America on her initial visit, drumming with group Kero Kero Bonito, and suddenly grief casts a shadow, coloring all with melancholy. Faltering keys and soft orchestration underscore dark dispatches from the tour van: "Cattle farm and broke down shack / Shopping centers, illicit trades, anxious moments."
Walton's gentle vocals are delivered in a flat manner, yet the album's intensity stems from her sharp penmanship—blending stories, folksy sayings, and direct diary entries—along with surprising maximalism. Not many songs recently possess stronger novelistic flair compared to "Shelly", which describes the killing of an animal and descends into a petrol-laden confrontation, evoking literary works lit by glimpses of warped cello. Anxious, subdued verses with resonating, plucked strings move to expansive refrains, with her vocals digitally manipulated to become something all-knowing and menacing.
Audiences may already know the artist from her work as an electronic producer, DJ, and contributor in groups such as Caroline. The album's sonic turns reflect this diverse career. The first track "Sometimes" bursts in flourish, like a string band taken unawares, while "Born Again Backwards" radically ups the BPM via an intense, stunning, repeating percussion. Dense walls of sound, expertly produced by a longtime collaborator, seem at once rough and ethereal, and Walton's morbid, enchanted thinking peak on standout "Lambs", a song that momentarily transforms into a swirling dance. "May your life never end in death," she bargains, with heart-aching dark comedy.
